Photocell plastic housing with plug section



Dec. 9, 1969 R. K. scHuLER- 3,433,392

PHOTOCELL PLASTIC HOUSING WITH PLUG SECTION Filed March 23. 1967 L5 4.9gm

ATTORNEY United States Patent US. Cl. 250-239 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A photocell assembly wherein a photocell is held within aninsulated housing by retaining flanges and the wire leads are wrappedaround locking ears formed on a downwardly extending plug section topositively secure the photocell to the housing as well as to form theterminals for a plug and socket electrical connection.

Where an electrical component, such as a photocell, must be accuratelyand securely positioned within an enclosure, the installation is often atime-consuming operation. In conventional designs, the component andassociated wire leads are usually attached by bolts, screws or othersimilar means to a mounting surface that is in turn secured to the mainassembly. After mounting, the photocell is electrically connected, inthe main assembly area, by soldering or manually attaching the leadwires to an appropriate power supply.

The present invention overcomes the aforementioned problems by providinga photocell unit that may be totally assembled in a remote location andthat can be easily mounted and electrically connected without additionalparts or operations. The photocell is mounted on the base of aninsulated housing having deflectable retaining flanges that secure thephotocell body against axial and lateral movement. Retaining the cell inthis manner eliminates much of the time normally spent in a mountingoperation and allows the use of a smaller photocell base. The photocellleads are then wrapped around locking ears formed on a downwardlyextending plug section. In addition to providing additional support forthe photocell body, the leads and locking ears cooperate to form anelectrical plug that, without additional operations, may be easilyinserted into a suitably shaped electrical receptacle. Mountingshoulders are provided on the housing so that the photocell assembly maybe inserted into a suitably shaped opening in the main unit and besecurely held therein without additional operations or parts. Theresulting product is a compact, inexpensive and rugged photocell unitthat overcomes the previously mentioned problems.

Accordingly, the objects of the present invention are;

to provide a compact photocell assembly that is adapted to be insertedinto a socket receptacle; to provide a photocell unit subassembly thatcan be completely formed prior to installation in a main assembly; toprovide an insulated housing for an electrical component wherein thelatter is held securely in place on an insulated housing by retainingflanges, and the terminal leads are secured by coiling around lockingears formed on a downwardly extending plug section of the housing; andto provide a photocell unit that can be easily assembled by simpleoperations.

The above and other objects will be apparent to one skilled in the artupon reading the following detailed description; reference being made tothe accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side cross-sectional view of a photocell assembly made inaccordance with the present invention.

Patented Dec. 9, 1969 Inasmuch as the present invention is symmetricallyformed, the numbers used in the following description will be understoodto also refer to the corresponding symmetrical part.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the photocell assembly 10, in general, comprises ahousing 12 and a photocell 14 having wire leads 16.

The photocell 14 used in the present invention may be of anyconventional internal design and externally comprises a substantiallycylindrical body shell 18 and a disc-shaped base 20. Conventional Wireleads 16 of any suitable size and electrically conductive materialproject downwardly from the base 20 and have a length sufficient for theassembly purposes to be described more fully below.

The housing 12 may be formed of an insulating material such aspolypropylene and comprises a mounting plate 24, side walls 26 havingretaining flanges 28, and a plug section 30. The mounting plate 24 issubstantially circular in shape and has a diameter approximately equalto that of the photocell base 20. The walls 26, formed at the sides ofthe mounting plate 24, extend vertically a distance approximately equalto the height of the photocell 14. Though having a rectangular crosssection in the described embodiment, the wall cross section may be ofany shape that will allow sufiicient deflection for purposes to bedescribed later. Additionally, a mounting shoulder 31 is formed on thewalls 26 so that the assembly 10 may be securely retained within asuitably formed Opening in the main assembly without any added parts.

The retaining flanges 28 are located on the inner face 32 of each of thewalls 26 a suflicient distance above the top surface 34 of the mountingplate 24 so that the resulting arcuate groove 36 between the retainingflanges 28 and the mounting plate 24 is approximately the same height asthe photocell base 20 so as to limit vertical movement of the photocell14. As shown in FIGURE 2, the retaining flange 2.8 has an arcuateshoulder 38 having a diameter substantially equal to that of the bodyshell 18 so that, in assembly, the shoulder 38 will partially encirclethe body shell 18 to limit lateral movement about the mounting plate 24.

The plug section 30 comprises a centrally located core 40 projectingdownwardly from the mounting plate 24 and outwardly extending lockingears 42. Transversely extending terminal notches 46 are formed in thebottom face 44 of the locking ears 42. Similarly, terminal grooves 52are formed in each of the end faces 48 of the locking cars 42 adjacentthe bottom surface 50 of the mounting plate 24. Additionally, recesses54 having a generally cylindrical contour are molded in the sidewalls 56of the locking ears 42 and extend outwardly from the core 40. Theterminal grooves 52, terminal notches 46 and recesses 54 comprise thestructure for securing the wire leads 16 to the housing 12. Slots 58 areformed in the mounting plate 24 and extend outwardly from a point abovethe locking cars 42 and core 40 and are spaced a distance apartapproximately equal to the distance separating the wire leads 16.

The photocell 14 is assembled to the housing 12 by inserting the wireleads 16 through slots 58 and pressing the photocell 14 downwardly overthe outwardly deflecting retaining flanges 28 until the base 20 rests onthe top surface 34. In this position, it will be appreciated thatvertical and lateral movement of the photocell 14 l is limited by thegroove 36 and the shoulder 38, respectively.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, the assembly operation is completed bysuccessively bending the wire leads 16 downwardly and outwardly intoalignment with and traversely through the terminal notches 46, andupwardly and outwardly into alignment with and transversely across theterminal grooves 52. The length of lead necessary for the aboveoperation may be predetermined or the wire leads can be severed to theappropriate length at the completion of the winding operation. Finally,the wire leads 16 are crimped into the recesses 54 to form terminaldepressions 60. In addition to forming the contact terminals for theleads, the depressions 60 take up any slack present in the bendingoperation to provide a tightly secured photocell assembly.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the photocell assembly can be easily andconveniently electrically connected by inserting the plug section 30into a suitably shaped receptacle such as an electrical connector 62having C-shaped locking notches 64 formed in the contact fingers 66. Thenotches 64 cooperate with depressions 60 to make the electrical contactas well as providing a locking connection between the photocell assemblyand the connector.

While but one embodiment has been shown and described, it should beapparent that one skilled in the art could make various modificationsand alterations of the present invention. Accordingly, the inventionshould be limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A one-piece plastic housing formed of an insulating material andadapted to receive and retain a generally cylindrical electricalcomponent having elongated flexible wire leads, said housing comprising:a mounting section having upwardly extending deflectable retaining meanswhich are adapted to partially encircle and resiliently engage saidcomponent to thereby limit vertical and lateral movement of the latter;apertures formed in said mounting section through which said wire leadsare adapted to extend; and a plug section extending downwardly from saidmounting section and including recessed surfaces into and around whichsaid wire leads are adapted to be wrapped to thereby fixedly secure saidcomponent to said housing.

2. The invention as recited in claim 1 wherein said defiectableretaining means comprise a pair of vertically extending wall sectionsformed at the sides of said mounting section in diametrically opposingrelationship, each 4 of which has a semi-circular inwardly facingretaining flange formed thereon above said mounting section.

3. The invention as recited in claim 1 wherein said plug sectionincludes a centrally located core and outwardly extending, locking earson which said recessed surfaces are formed.

4. The invention as recited in claim 3 wherein said recessed surfacesinclude grooves formed in the bottom face of said locking ears, andnotches formed in the outwardly facing surfaces of said locking earsadjacent said mounting section.

5. A one-piece plastic housing formed of an insulating material andadapted toreceive and retain a photocell having a cylindrical body and acircular base from which a pair of elongated flexible wire leads depend,said housing comprising:. a substantially circular mounting plate havinga pair of vertically extending walls formed at the side thereof indiametrically opposing relationship, said walls including inwardlyfacing semi-circular retaining flanges spaced above said mounting plateand adapted to partially encircle and resiliently engage said body tolimit lateral and vertical movement of the photocell relative to themounting plate; outwardly opening slots formed in said mounting platethrough which said wire leads are adapted to extend; a plug sectionextending downwardly from said mounting plate and including a centrallylocated core and outwardly extending locking ears; grooves formed in thebottom face of said locking ears; and notches formed in the outwardlyfacing surfaces of said locking ears adjacent said mounting platewhereby said wire leads are adapted to be wrapped into and around saidnotches and grooves to fixedly secure said photocell to said housingwith said wire leads and said plug section consituting a connectorsection for electrically mounting said photocell.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,493,919 1/1950 Holmes 250239 X2,654,858 10/1953 Feller 250-239 X 3,187,294 6/1965 Murray et al.250-239 X 3,336,482 8/1967 Mierendorf et al. 250239 X 3,401,311 9/1968Burch 250-239 ROBERT SEGAL, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 317-101

